CHILD AND FAMILY POLICY IN FINLAND

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A wealth of options for families Most families make use of all the government-assisted forms of child care before their children reach school age. Typically parents begin by caring for their children at home with the aid of a parental allowance, after which many families rely on a child home care allowance. The next step for most families is to place children in a municipal day-care centre or with a family day care provider. Some families prefer to use a private service provider and apply for a private day-care allowance. There are approximately 422,000 children under school age in Finland, around half of whom are in municipal day care. The older children get, the more likely they are to attend day care. Approximately four per cent of all children in day care are in private day care. Before-school and after-school activities The Basic Education Act includes a provision entitling local government to central government transfers for the provision of before-school and after-school activities for first-year and second-year pupils and for pupils with special educational needs. Before-school and after-school activities support the educational role of both school and home and provide children with a safe environment. Local authorities can organise the provision of before-school and after-school activities independently or together with other local authorities or they can outsource the provision of these services to non-governmental organisations or private service providers. However, local authorities have no legal obligation to provide before-school and after-school activities. Local authorities can also charge reasonable client fees. There is no legal obligation for children to attend before-school and after-school activities. Free school meals for all All pupils and students in primary and secondary schools, upper secondary schools and vocational schools are entitled to one healthy meal per day free of charge. It is recommended that school meals support the nutrition given at home and as such should provide one third of the pupil’s or the student’s daily nutritional requirements. Free school meals were introduced in Finland in 1948. 24
Percentage of children aged 0–2 2011 ■ Municipal day-care centre 17 % ■ Municipal family day care 9 % ■ Child home care allowance 38 % ■ Private day-care allowance 3 % ■ Parental allowance 25 % ■ Other 10 % Figure 2. Child care for children under the age of 3 in 2011 Percentage of children aged 3–6 2011 ■ Municipal day-care centre 57 % ■ Municipal family day care 10 % ■ Child home care allowance 11 % ■ Private day-care allowance 5 % ■ Other 16 % Figure 3. Child care for children aged between 3 and 6 in 2011 25
Page 1: Child and Family PoliCy in Finland
Page 4 and 5: Child and Family Policy in Finland
Page 6: 1. Family policy in Finland The aim
Page 9 and 10: The law is changed to allow the ter
Page 11: Guidance Ministry of Social Affairs
Page 14 and 15: Housing support Forms of housing su
Page 16: 3. Family leave system The family l
Page 19: 4. Early childhood education and ca
Page 22: Private day-care allowance As an al
Page 28: Taking into care and foster care Ta
Page 32 and 33: Child health clinics All new mother
Page 34: ment to promote the positive develo
Page 39 and 40: 8. Adoption The purpose of adoption

CHILD AND FAMILY POLICY IN FINLAND

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